Saudi Arabia allows children of illegal residents to enroll at school

 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will allow children of illegal residents to enrol at school for the new academic year. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education announced this news on Tuesday. 

According to the television news channel Al Arabiya, the ministry of education urged schools to provide parents who are residing in the Kingdom without official residency statuses with admission forms. The ministry urged parents to contact the education ministry’s offices in the region where they live. Once approved, the admission forms must be submitted to the school authorities to enroll children at schools. 

The ministry also directed education departments across the country to provide the general evaluation and admission monthly statistical report on the number of students enrolled in each educational district. 

People who reside in the Kingdom illegally need to submit the official documents of the child, including their passport, residency permit, visit visa, permanent address, and contact information to the school authorities. 

The ministry also announced that Saudi Arabia schools are going to merge the Holy Quran and Islamic studies in elementary and middle schools into one subject “The Holy Quran and Islamic Studies.” The ministry also announced the decision to reduce the new subject’s lessons from 34 weekly classes at the intermediate level to 15. 

According to the media report, the parents with an illegal status must also submit a document mentioning that they will correct their status during the academic year. 

Recently, Saudi Arabia’s Consumer Protection Association (CPA) also said that schools have no right to force parents to purchase students' uniforms from a specific store. The CPA announced this decision after a parent complained against a school, which was forcing students’ parents to buy school uniforms at a specific store and a high price.

Schools in the Kingdom will reopen on August 28 after the summer break.